Airline pulls a surprise

Local officials weren’t told of SkyWest schedule changes

The early-morning and late-night flights to and from Crescent City’s airport, which made it easier to get connections or to take day-trips to San Francisco and Sacremento, have been swapped out less than six months after they were implemented.

A new schedule that started Thursday offers the same amount of flight service to Crescent City, but airport officials say the times are less desirable.

The Border Coast Regional Airport Authority, which manages and operates Jack McNamara field in Crescent City, “was not notified nor consulted in advance regarding the recent change in schedule,” said David Finigan, chairman of the airport authority, in an email to the Triplicate. “We found out through
gossip between TSA and airport personnel after the fact.”

The airport authority had advocated for the schedule in place during the last six months to give passengers more options for catching connecting flights in San Francisco and Sacramento to further destinations. Additionally, the plane that arrived in Crescent City late from Sacramento stayed overnight, which “virtually assures an on-time departure to San Francisco without the delays due to air traffic, congestion or weather,” said Finigan last August when the schedule was announced.

“This new schedule is the exact same as a previous schedule we had lobbied to change,” Finigan said. “We are now once again faced with accessing connections through San Francisco at a less than desirable time frame.”

SkyWest Airlines, the regional carrier that operates Crescent City flights for United Airlines, issued a statement about the changes:

“In August, we implemented a new flight schedule to help increase connectivity for passengers traveling through Sacramento. In October, we reviewed the schedule change with the airport. After seeing that the new flight schedule had not resulted in any meaningful improvements, we have resumed our long-standing schedule in Crescent City.”

SkyWest spokesperson Hazel Sainsbury said that “anytime we make any changes with the schedule it’s usually in conjunction with the airport” but that “flight schedules can change as often as each month.”

Finigan, who is less than happy about the airport authority being left “out of the communication loop regarding scheduling” said that “this will probably necessitate a trip to the main offices of SkyWest in Saint George, Utah, to try and better serve our area.”

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